Webley, U.S. Pat. No. 3,939,596, teaches an animal trap having a pair of jaws which are covered with rubber material. The rubber material is in the form of an elongated cylinder which completely encapsulates each of the jaws, and the jaws must be disassembled in order to incorporate the tubular rubber member.
Maddox, U.S. Pat. No. 1,825,193; Kuehl, U.S. Pat. No. 4,033,067; Briddell, U.S. Pat. No. 2,146,464; and O'Neil, U.S. Pat. No. 2,316,970, show other means by which the confronting jaws of an animal trap are provided with yieldable material to grip the animal without crushing the bones.
Stratler, U.S. Pat. No. 1,600,145, discloses an animal trap having a valve and needle for injecting a substance into the body of an animal. Mulholland et al, U.S. Pat. No. 1,553,389, injects a poisonous fluid into the animal's leg to cause death. Reynolds, U.S. Pat. No. 329,082, discloses a cartridge which is fired to kill the animal when the trap is sprung.
There is a critical need for animals to be selectively trapped, inspected, and subsequently released unharmed. A steel leg trap is very efficient for trapping animals, but the confronting jaws of the trap invariably injure the animal. The animal is determined to escape the trap, and he will invariably do so even if it causes severe pain. Padding of the confronting jaws usually enables the animal to escape the trap. Injection of the animal with tranquilizers is effective when the injection occurs immediately upon entrapment of the animal.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to be able to trap animals in such a way that they are unharmed and not subject to cruel or inhumane treatment and released unharmed, if desired. This is the subject of the present invention.